- May 19, 2011
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MS Office versions historically have been supported with security updates for about ten years.
Example: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-office-2013
Office 2013, released 2013, supported until 2023, so ten years near enough.
Office 2016, supported 2015, supported until 2025.
Office 2019, released 2018, supported until... 2025. The support cut-off date is the same as 2016's.
Based on this alone I'd wonder if the standalone versions of Office are being ditched in 2025 entirely in favour of renting Office, but MS have recently announced Office 2021 and a ~4 year support timeframe to coincide with the same Oct 2025 date would seem especially cruel. Personally I think it's almost guaranteed that Office will eventually become rental-only, I'm just surprised that it hasn't happened already.
The Office 2019 EOS date could just be wrong, but it seems like a long time to have incorrect information on their site. Office 2021's EOS info isn't available yet.
14 October 2025 (the date as Office 2016 and 2019 goes EOS) is also the same date as Win10 goes EOS, which seems like an odd coincidence to me. Windows 10 is not on Office's "fixed life cycle policy" but a "modern lifecycle policy", which made some sense when Win10 was going to be "the last version of Windows". It adds fuel to the opinion that Windows will too go on a rental basis IMO.
I'm not convinced that Windows going rental makes much sense though; it's one thing to say that an optional piece of software (Office) can be rented, but one can't do without an OS so it's a far more hostile move, to the average user it will seem like a threat to brick their PC. In business I've found that presenting the user with only one option will almost inevitably make them seek out other options just not with me, but my business is no Microsoft.
Example: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/microsoft-office-2013
Office 2013, released 2013, supported until 2023, so ten years near enough.
Microsoft Office 2016 - Microsoft Lifecycle
Microsoft Office 2016 follows the Fixed Lifecycle Policy.
docs.microsoft.com
Microsoft Office 2019 - Microsoft Lifecycle
Microsoft Office 2019 follows the Fixed Lifecycle Policy.
docs.microsoft.com
Based on this alone I'd wonder if the standalone versions of Office are being ditched in 2025 entirely in favour of renting Office, but MS have recently announced Office 2021 and a ~4 year support timeframe to coincide with the same Oct 2025 date would seem especially cruel. Personally I think it's almost guaranteed that Office will eventually become rental-only, I'm just surprised that it hasn't happened already.
The Office 2019 EOS date could just be wrong, but it seems like a long time to have incorrect information on their site. Office 2021's EOS info isn't available yet.
14 October 2025 (the date as Office 2016 and 2019 goes EOS) is also the same date as Win10 goes EOS, which seems like an odd coincidence to me. Windows 10 is not on Office's "fixed life cycle policy" but a "modern lifecycle policy", which made some sense when Win10 was going to be "the last version of Windows". It adds fuel to the opinion that Windows will too go on a rental basis IMO.
I'm not convinced that Windows going rental makes much sense though; it's one thing to say that an optional piece of software (Office) can be rented, but one can't do without an OS so it's a far more hostile move, to the average user it will seem like a threat to brick their PC. In business I've found that presenting the user with only one option will almost inevitably make them seek out other options just not with me, but my business is no Microsoft.
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